The official website for Kimi to Yukite Saku ~ Shinsen-gumi Seishun Roku~ (With You I Bloom ~The Shinsen-gumi Youth Chronicle~), the live-action series of Osamu Tezuka‘s The Shinsen-gumi manga, revealed its two lead cast members and its April 23 premiere on Friday. Kentarō Maeda (Kamen Rider Revice, left in image below) plays Daisaku Kamagiri, while Tomoya Oku (Kamen Rider Revice, right) plays Kyujuro Fukakusa.
© TV Asahi
©TEZUKA PRODUCTIONS
The series will premiere on TV Asahi‘s “Super Bara Bara Daisakusen” programming block on April 23 at 24:15 (effectively, April 24 at 12:15 a.m. or April 23 at 11:15 a.m. EDT).
Hayato Kawai (live-action My Love Story!!, Nisekoi, Kaguya-sama: Love is War films) is directing the series, while Fumi Tsubota (Hugtto! Precure, Waccha PriMagi!, Gold Kingdom and Water Kingdom) is penning the scripts. Filming is taking place at Toei Studios Kyoto.
Digital Manga Guild published The Shinsen-gumi in English digitally, and it describes the manga:
In Kyoto, in the late 1800s, the son of a local book-binder, Kyujuro Fukakusa sees his father murdered before his eyes and vows revenge. In his quest for justice, he answers the recruitment call of The Shinsen-gumi (or “The new squad”) a newly-formed special brigade of samurai loyal to the shogun. There he meets fellow recruit and proficient swordsmen, the enigmatic Daisuke Kamakiri.
Despite the gap in their fighting skill levels, the two forma close bond, but can it survive the age of upheaval that is descending on “The Wolves of Mibu?”
Tezuka published the manga in Shueisha‘s Shonen Book in 1963. The manga inspired a kabuki play in August 2022.
Sources: Kimi to Yukite Saku ~ Shinsen-gumi Seishun Roku~ official website, Comic Natalie